
Qass. 
Book. 



GOD ACKNOWLEDGED, IN THE NATION'S BEREAVEMENT. 

A SERMON 

DELITEHED IN HUDSON, OHIO, 

ON THE DAY OF THE OBSEQUIES OF 

ABEAHAM LINCOLN, 

APRIL 19th, 1865, 



HENRY L. HITCHCOCK. 



: : CLEVELAND : 

PAtRBANK3, BENEDICT &■ 00., PRINTERS, HERALD OFFICE, 



GOD ACKXOWLEDGED, IX THE NATIOX'S BEREAVEMEXT. 

A SERMON 

DELIVERED IN HUDSOX, OHIO, 

ON THE DAY OF THE OBSE',>riP;.S OF 

ABRAHAM LINCOL^t 

APRIL 19tli, 1865, 



HENRY L. HITCHCOCK. 



C J.E V i:]..\ ,\ 1) : 

FAIKBANKi, BBNEDICT & CO., TRINTERS, IJEKALD OmcE, 

1H65. 



Hudson, April 20th, 1865. 
Kkv H. L. Hitchcock, D. D. 

Dear Sir: — Your Seniion on the lamented death of our venerated Pres- 
ident, Abraham Lincoln, preached on the 19th inst. in conformity with 
the recommendation of the government at Washington, was listened to 
with deep interest by a numerous congregation. 

Desiring to perpetuate, as far as may be, the memory of the day and 
the occasion, and impressed with the truth and importance of the senti- 
ments and principles embodied in your discourse, they unanimously, 
through us, solicit a copy for publication. 



HARVEY BALDWIN, ) 

WAL I\I. BEEBE, } Committee. 

N. P. SEYMOUK, S 



Messrs. H. Baldwin. W. M. Bkebe and N. P. Seymour, Committee. 

Gentlemen:— 'Ho aid in perpetuating among us the memory of the day and 
the occasion, the request of the Congregation through you, is complied 
with, and a copy of the Senuuii is at your disposal. 

HENRY L. HITCHCOCK 

Western Reserve College. April r^l, ]8(i5. 



S E R M O N 



JOB! -.21. 

"The Lord gave, imd the Lurd huUi Inkeii .•r^^il\ : Blessed be the name 
of tlie Lord.'' 

The nation was jubilaut with joy. Tiie steady march of its 
armies had been crowned with great and decisive victories. — 
The Capital of the enemy so long an object of fierce contest, 
had been occupied by our forces. His chief general had sur- 
rendered, with his chief army. There was hope that the fa- 
vorablo terms allowed might induce others to submission. 
Drafting and recruiting had ceased by order from the War De- 
partment, The day made memorable at the opening of the 
war by the fall of Sumter, was being uuide more memorable 
by the formal restoration of the Hag of the Union with appro- 
priate ceremonies, and by general rejoicing. Its exultant hours 
were drawing near their close, when their progress is arrested 
by a deed of the blackest crime. Assassination for the first 
time in our annals strikes at the government. The dark spirit 
of the rebellion, born of slavery, accomplishes its fell purpose, 
thwarted before. The venerated head of the llepublic dies its 
victim. His cliief Counselor is assailed with the same intent 
in his own house upon abed of sickness, and members of his 
family likewise in their care for him and attempt to interfere 
with the murderer. 



Exultation ceases. Horror takes its place. The following 
day is ushered in and passes with lamentation. The insignia 
of rejoicing are changed into the insignia of mourning. Heavy 
gloom and apprehension succeed festivity, and high wrought 
confidence. They spread from the center to the extremities, 
from city to city and State to State, till the whole land bows 
beneath the blow. The honest, the pure, the far seeing, the 
magnanimous Abraham Lincoln, the people's choice and peo- 
ple's friend, the firm yet merciful ruler, the successful guardian 
and guide of the Republic thus far in its severest trial, and just 
entered upon his second term of office, with continual!}' in- 
creasing indications that his administration was rapidly tend- 
ing to a most triumphant issue out of the great struggle fur life 
and honor ; he, the revered, trusted and beloved Chief Magis- 
trate has been foully assassinated. 

To-day has been designated for the funeral obsequies, and 
the Government has invited the people throughout the land to 
observe it with appropriate services. While the Presidential 
Mansion and the Capitol are the especial scene of these solemn- 
ities, the whole country takes part in them at this hour. The 
large Congregation assembled here on brief notice testifies our 
deep symi)athy. Ours, but indicates the general sympathy. 
The nation is shrouded in mourning. Its illustrious dead will 
be borne to his grave with most profound regret, and his mem- 
ory and name be cherished among the first in the hearts of 
his countrj'men to all future time. 

But his integrity and wisdom and fidelity can serve the peo- 
ple no more. Other minds must guide the Republic now. Its 
future is with them, under the higher control of the Supreme 
Ruler. To recognize that Ruler, to seek His support and bless- 
ing is our appropriate purpose now. He should be in all our 
thoughts, but should be especially regarded, when His Provi- 
dence has come so near, and has so distinctly addressed us. — 
These events were by no means beyond His knowledge, by no 
means outside of His superintendence. They have meaning 
from Him. They bring lessons of truth and duty, of wisdom 



fend patriotism, of trust and hope. To Him should we draw 
near, and with Him hold comnuinion. Human passions may 
thus be stilled ; human griefs assuaged ; consolation come to 
every mourner ; confidence return ; new hope dawn ; courage 
and strength be secured for the great emergency ; and the na- 
tion girded afresh, for its work, may arise and under the leader- 
ship of the Constitutional successor of the late President, with 
Him who is Sovereign over all, as its Supreme Leader, carry 
on that work to full completion. To guide our thoughts and 
prayers on the occasion, the text has seemed most suital^le. 

" The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; Blessed 
be the name of the Lord." 

I. " The Lord gave." — In addition to the general truth that 
He orders all events, most would be disposed to regard Pres- 
ident Lincoln's elevation to power and his preservation so 
long, as the especial gifts of divine favor. The conviction that 
he was the man for the times had been steadily increasing, un- 
til it was well nigh universal. Friends were firmer friends. 
The doubtful and hesitating were more confident and cor- 
dial. Enemies were becoming friends. Respect had taken 
the place of ridicule, and praises of jeers. Even foreign jour- 
nals whose sympathies had been with his enemies, were begin- 
ning to find something in him to admire and commend. 

Now, with any faith in the general providence of God, we 
can hardly fail to mark His good providence, in giving us such 
a President for the period of trial througii which we have been 
passing. The confidence of many that it was indeed so, was 
awakened, when, on first leaving his western home to assume 
the duties of his office, he bade his friends and neighbors fare- 
well in a brief address, and with evident sincerity asked a re- 
membrance in their prayers at the throne of heavenly grace. — 
He then commended himself as a man of sagacity and alive 
to responsibility, devoted to duty and looking Heavenward i'or 
help. This confidence was increased by his preservation Irom 
intended assassination, and by his entrance upon his first term 
of service with an evident and firm purpose to fulfill its duties 



6 

Nvith religious regard to his oath of office whatever the impend- 
ing storm might bring. Events from time to time and his 
bearing with regard to them justified and augmented this con- 
fidence. He was above prejudice and passion. He manifest- 
ed no selfish and narrow ambition. He was not elated by suc- 
cess, nor depressed bv misfortune. He sought the right and 
was firm and persistent in doing it. His proclamation of free- 
dom to the slave, its method and time, as well as nature and 
results, increased this confidence. His obvious recognition of 
God and devout reliance upon Him increased it. His triumph- 
ant re-election, and the results in furthering the National cause, 
his re-inauguration and address at the time ; and the successes 
which crowded the last weeks of his life, afibrding the highest 
occasion for gratitude and sufficient vindication of his adminis- 
tration, and hastening its triumph over all the manifold diffi- 
culties of his position, so that there was well nigh unanimous 
confidence reposed in him, leave little reason to question that 
his administration was the good gift of God, to a people whom 
He would save from anarchy and ruin, Ilecoguizing God at 
all in providence, we shall feel constrained to bless His name, 
that in kindness He gave us the Chief Magistrate, who has 
been so mysteriously taken from us. and whose funeral services 
we attend to-day. 

H. "The Lord hath taken away." More difficulty will nat- 
urally be felt in the application of this part of the text, to the 
event which has bereaved us. Was not the President taken 
away by the craft and crime of our enemies ? Was it not by 
assassination, a deed of guilt in the sight of both God and man, 
against high heaven as well as the nation and all human law? 
Were we not foully robbed of him, whom we had learned to 
honor, love and trust ? How had God auglit to do with what 
both He and man condemn ? 

He had not directly, but certainly by permission. He did 
not prevent it, as might have been done by innumerable inci- 
dents ; as had been done more than once before, and by Him, 
if He gave us the President and preserved him so long. The 



event was not beyond His supervision and control. It was em- 
braced within His most wise and inscrutable counsels, His 
most holy and supreme government overmen. 

Then it should be remembered that His gift was not direct, 
but through the intervention of many and different instrument- 
alities. The President was the choice of the people, after a 
most exciting canvass in the midst of some of the most stirring 
events of the national history. Yet we properly recognize him 
as given by God. So, though in a different sense, do we pro- 
perl}' regard his death, while caused by the murderer's hand, 
as appointed in the providence of God. It did not come a- 
thwart His designs. He purposed it, in such sense that we 
should recognize His presiding will and devoutly say ''the Lord 
hath taken away." 

But if He gave in mercy and for the welfare of the country, 
how should He permit His chosen servant to be taken away un- 
til the work was accomplished and the welfare of the countrj^ 
made secure ? "We cannot penetrate the secrets of His Sover- 
eignty, we cannot grasp the reasons of His universal govern- 
ment. If known in this instance, they might appear suflS- 
cient. Cei*tainly, in carrying out His purposes of good to a 
people, He is not restricted to a single agent oi* any number of 
agents. Xo great and good cause under His guidance can be 
so dependant upon the life of a single individual, that his 
death should involve its overthrow. There are different parts 
of every great enterprise, and different talents adapted to them. 
If our national cause has the approbation of God, as we do not 
question, the pai-t assigned to our late President has been fin- ' 
ished and loell finished. Perhaps our loving hearts could not 
have selected a more fitting time for its conclusion. 

It was amidst the general rejoicing over unprecedented suc- 
cesses, and the apparently dying struggles of the rebellion ; 
when the administration might safely pass to other hands, and 
he, relieved of the burdens and perils which future events 
would bring, might ever stand before the country and the world, 
as he then appeared, the central figure in a gi-eat national de* 



iiverance ; wlien his fame bad I'eached its zenith, and by com- 
mon consent his place among those who had served the country, 
was with the " Father of his country." We might wish that 
he could have lived to see complete triumph, and to enjoy the 
honor and reward of his most faithful services. But like Mos- 
es, he was permitted to see the goodly land in prospect, though 
not to enter it ; and has been gathered to the company of the 
great and good, who having served God and their generation, 
rest from their labors, and rejoice in the final and full reward 
of their fidelity . Like early martyrs to our Christian faith, he 
has after a life of noble service, met a martyr's death to free- 
dom and law and good government and nationality. And as 
the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church, so his 
blood may be new life and vigor to the cause in which he was 
sacrificed. 

Then the text and its connection teach us to recognize God 
in the event which has shocked and bereaved us. The Patri- 
arch who was most sorely and mysteriously tried, did not say 
"• The Lord gave" and the Sabeans, the lightnings, the Chal- 
deans, the wind and the storm have taken away, but "The 
Lord hath taken away." His devout mind passed beyond the 
direct instrumentality to God, and acknowledged Him and His 
high and holy purpose. Inspiration teaches that he was right 
in this, and approved. So, in our meditations upon the be- 
reavement which has visited the land, we should pass beyond 
the afflictive circumstances, to the Supreme Lord over all, and 
rest in submission to His will. 

But the fullest and most memorable illustration of the truth 
under consideration is found in the death of our Lord and Sav- 
ior. He was taken and with wricked hands crucified and slain. 
Treason and murder, violently finished his earthly career of 
benevolence and mercy. Yet it was, by the determinate coun- 
• eel and foreknowledge of God ; and by Him intended for the 
accomplishment of the greatest good. It became the most ef- 
ficient means for the promotion of the very cause, which the 
guilty perpetrators of the deed intended to crush. Their own 



act, in the overruling providence of God, was made to work 
out their discomfiture, and the speedy triumph of His doctrines, 
whom tliey had causelessly and cruelly put to death. 

We should not hesitate, theu, to employ the language of our 
text to-day. While we can never forget the fiendish spirit and 
fiendish act of the assassin, and of all accomplices and abettors, 
let us in our thoughts rise above those, to Him whose "throne 
Is established in the Heavens and whose kingdom ruleth over 
all ;" let us acknowledge His wise and holy providence in the 
great national bereavement, and endeavor by consideration of 
the lessons it is adapted to inculcate and by prayer, to make 
improvement acceptable to Him, the Supreme Lord and great 
Disposer of all events and interests. 

HI. The remaining clause of the text, "Blessed be the name 
of the Lord," shows distinctly the spirit with which the severe 
dispensation should be regarded and improved. It is the spirit 
of submission and confidence, ready to endure and do as the 
divine will and purpose may appoint. 

It is comparatively easy to bless the name of the Lord when 
He gives. But to do it when He takes away, is one of the 
most diflicult duties required of faith and piety. It would 
seem enough if we could only be still and know that God is 
Sovereign; certainly enough, if we could bring our reluctant 
hearts to say in truth, "Even so Father, for so it seemed good 
in thy sight." But to go beyond, and even praise him in the 
midst of his judgments, to bless his name while our hearts are 
bleeding under their heavy strokes, how can we ? Some con- 
biderations may aid us. 

He is the Supreme and rightful Sovereign, the just and mer- 
ciful Ruler, "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, 
and Lord of lords, the only wise God over all." "Clouds and 
darkness are round about him" but "righteousness and judg- 
ment are the habitation of his throne." He is always worthy, 
then, of devout adoration and praise. Though disaster and 
change, bereavement and sorrow may overtake us, He is the 
same 



10 

great reasons for praise remain as thej were when our sky 
was unclouded and no storm beat upon us. We should rise 
by faith above the overhanging gloom, and draw near into His 
august and gracious presence, where light is ever shining, and 
who doeth all things well ; wlio when He arises to save the 
meek of the earth makes the wrath of man to praise Him, and 
the remainder restrains ; who exalteth, who abaseth ; who hath 
seen the end from the beginning ; who is from everlasting to 
everlasting ; whose truth and mercy endure to all genera- 
tions ; and who, in working all things according to the counsel 
of his own will, makes them work together for good to them 
that love him ; into His presence should we draw near, and 
there rest, and wait His will. For our comfort and hope, no 
special sight of special reasons, in a special emergency is 
necessary. He is ever and alone worthy of entire confidence. 
" Though the earth be removed and the mountains be carried 
into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar 
and be troubled" yet should we not fear ; but in every ex- 
perience of His providential government, bless His great and 
adorable name who was and is, and is to come — the most 
High and most Holy. 

Then, it should be remembered that when He takes away, He 
takes but what He gave ; and what perhaps w^e poorly prized, 
and still more, perhaps, entirely failed to recognize as His good 
gift. He but recalls His own. It was ours only while He was 
pleased to bestow ; and when He is pleased to withdraw, has 
our ownership been so changed, that we can justly challenge 
His right or His kindness even ? If we were ready to thank 
Him, that He gave us a President whom we could trust, shall 
we cease to be grateful for the gift, because the time has come 
in His providence, when it must be recalled ? or rather, mind- 
ful of His right and our dependence, of His wisdom and our ig-^ 
norance, shall we still bless His name even in our bereavement, 
and notwithstanding the great national loss which it involves ? 

Especially will this appear obligatory if we call to mind how 
much and various good was comprehended in the gift, and 



11 

how long it was continued. Was it nothing-, that a worth}- 
compeer of the worthies of the purer days of the Kepublic 
should again occupy the Presidential chair? that, in these 
times of corruption and bribery, base compliance and open 
treason, an honest man should honor the seat which Wash- 
ington filled and leave a memory like his, untarnished and 
priceless in its influence upon succeeding generations ? No- 
thing, that a representative of the genius of our Institutions, 
should rise to be their head and support in the most fearful 
conflict to which tliey were ever exposed ; and though surround- 
ed with most unfavorable circumstances, should be able to com- 
mand for them and himself the respect of the world? No- 
thing, that though bringing to his place few of the accessories 
so generally deemed essential to successful rule, he should ad- 
minister mostdifiicult and complicated affairs, in new and un- 
tried conditions, over an extended territory, with a compass 
and versatility and pertinacity of wisdom, and an exalted 
patriotism and fidelity, which should disappoint all prophecies 
of evil, all sinister hopes of enemies, all sanguine hopes of 
friends indeed, and bring so near triumphant issue, the over- 
throw of a gigantic rebellion ? And nothing, that it should be 
done not only without damage to the cardinal principles of 
free constitutional government, but should furnish demonstra- 
tion of the capacity of our Institutions for the severest tests of 
adversity ? Is it nothing that slavery should be abolished at 
the Capital, and the slave tj-ade treated as ]^iracy ? That mil- 
lions of bondmen should be set at liberty, and that such pro- 
gress has been made towards the entire extinction of slavery, 
by its constitutional prohibition ? Will not the Negro race 
hold Abraham Lincoln in most grateful remembrance ? AVill 
not their children's children revere and bless his name ? Will 
not nations hereafter freed from the yoke of tyranny, honor him 
among the friends of the people, of whom he came, and for 
whom, and for governments by them and for them, he lived 
and died ? With what steady trust and unwearied devotion, 
simple honesty and noble patriotism, fearlessness of personal 



13 

danger aud generous accessibility to all and regard for the 
poorest and lowest ; with what persistent purpose, yet unruffled 
moderation, has he stood in all the raging storm of the past 
four years, the conflict of arms and of opinions, not a partizan 
President, not a sectionalist, not an ambitious seeker of power 
or fame, but tlie head of tlie people, by their will and the will 
of God, to save them from national dismemberment and death, 
to destroy the most dangerous foe of union and peace, and to 
preserve our free institutions for us and our children and com- 
ing generations ! His success in the judgment of the people 
may be estimated by their lamentation on his sudden death. — 
That he was preserved so long and accomplished so much, fur- 
nishes abundant reason to bless the name of the Lord. Any 
thought of ours, that his presence and influence were needed 
now aud hereafter, even more than heretofore, that perils as 
great await us in readjustment as have attended the conflict of 
arms, should not interfere with this tribute of praise. He had 
recently given some indications of the general policy deemed 
appropriate by him in order to re-construction. The light of 
his spirit and example will shine upon the path of his success- 
or. The same able counselors in whom he trusted and on 
whom he leaned, will supply their treasures of wisdom and 
experience, and the same military and naval leaders continue 
their services. Without serious interruption the government 
will move steadily forward. The full aim of the conspirators 
was not accomplished. It may be, in the mysterious designs 
of Providence, that so much was permitted aud no more, that, 
while the government should not be greatly embarassed, it 
would have additional motive and increased power to fathom 
and overwhelm that greater conspiracy against its life, of which 
this was a subordinate part. The result may be more signal 
triumph over treason, the more complete and enduring salva- 
tion of the country from the machinations of its foes, by their 
total defeat, and a re-construction which shall prevent any re- 
suscitation of their power hereafter. 

But without consideration here of probable results of the 



13 

dispensation which has removed the late incumbent of the 
Presidential chair, enough was actually accomplished by his 
administration to call for the highest gratitude and praise to 
the Sovereign Lord of all. Especially does there seem to me 
occasion for gratitude, on account of the bright example whicli 
he has bequeathed to the country. It is an example of true 
Republican virtue ; an example of elevated moral excellence 
securing its legitimate reward of approbation and honor ; an 
example of the highest success by sincere fidelity and patience, 
worthy of universal attention and regard. President Lincoln 
rose from humble origin, to the foremost position of the world. 
In that position he won a name whicii will live among the 
brightest and best on the pages of history. The main element 
of his character, to which this eminent success must be ascrib- 
ed, was that which procured for him, before his elevation to the 
Presidency, that most honorable title of " honest." lie was a 
man of integrity ; sincere, pure, upright, faithful, true. Inter- 
est did rot blind him. Prosperity did not corrupt iiim. He 
was the same in the Presidential chair, and among the digni- 
taries of our own and other lands as in the retirements of pri- 
vate life. His steiling integrity summoned all his energies to 
the discharge of duty however difficult. This, made him the 
head of the nation, not of a part}' or a section. He was not 
his own but his country's. This, nerved him to constancy and 
perseverance. It drew from him all of which he was capable 
in the trying ordeal to whicli himself as well as the country 
was subjected. He had other remarkable elements of charac- 
ter ; a generous, noble heart, a discriminating and well bal- 
anced judgment. P)Ut integrity was the main root and crown- 
ing excellence of his successful career. Let Politicians and 
Diplomatists, Rulers and Ruled, Statesmen and People, all 
orders and all classes, and especially let young men aspiring 
to distinction, take note of it ; and see how much true great- 
ness depends upon simple integrity ; how much the largest 
success depends upon it ; and that, high moral excellence is 
essential to the highest and most enduring fame. It is an ex- 



14 

ample which will be a light and a blessing to the country whose 
inheritance it is, enkindling patriotism, renewing fidelity, stim- 
ulatiug toil, strengthening patience ; frowuing ou partizan 
animosity, sectional hatred, fraudulent conduct or revengeful 
passions, in whatever positions they may be indulged or cher- 
ished ; an example which will tend to bind the people in closer 
union under our admirable Constitution, and to excite among 
them the cultivation and practice of all public and private 
virtue. This example is and will be the more conspicuous 
and hallowed, by the method of the President's death and the 
sacred memories gathered around it ; memories of the pro- 
found movement of the public mind throughout the land ; of 
the solemnities of this day of funeral rites and national sor- 
row, and the solemnities of transferring the remains of the 
venerated dead from the Capital to their resting place in the 
bosom of the great West, rapidly becoming the center of pop- 
ulation and power : memories which a grateful people will 
not allow to perish, but will perpetuate in their own affection- 
ate remembrance and by tradition to their children, by story 
and song, in history and by monuments reared in commemor- 
ation of the worth and service of one so dear to the heart of 
the Nation. 

But we should pass to another leading thought. Trial is 
often made the means of good, of good which so far as we can 
judge could not have been without the trial. Through toil and 
sorrow, our own or others, we receive some of the greatest 
benefits of life. The sufierings of our Lord and Redeemer 
must needs be for the salvation of men. The sufierings of 
this terrible war are a discipline of the nation. They are adapt- 
ed to purify and improve it, to train and prepare it for a more 
glorious future. This last great sorrow is no exception. It 
brings discipline and instruction which properly regarded will 
secure good, commensurate with the sacrifice whicii has been 
required of us. Herein we shall find reason, even while bow- 
ed beneath the blow, to bless the name of the Lord who has 
taken away. 



15 

How clear aud impressive the lesson from this startling 
providence, of the transitoriness of all earthly glory, and the 
iiisuflScieucy of all earthly good! In a moment they may be 
nothing to him who has enjoyed them in the fullest measure ! 
The highest position does not screen from death. Reputation, 
honor, applause, human love, confidence aud veneration can 
not prevent it. Its close of all of earth, and its introduction 
to the untried state which succeeds, await every individual, 
whoever he may be and whatever his position, or circum- 
stances. 

There is need, then, of something more than aught vvhich is 
merely earthly, of something higher and better than its most 
elevated positions and richest treasures can bestow ; something 
better even than simple patriotism and integrity can give ; 
something which shall render these virtues acceptable in His 
presence before whom the departed spirit appears, and who 
justly claims regard to Himself as the supreme motive of action; 
something, thus, which may be carried to the eternal world, 
and there constitute an enduring treasure, and everlasting 
honor, Tliere needs before and more than aught else, and to 
beget and crown all other excellence, true piety, sincere regard 
to God, love to him aud trust in him through our adorable 
Redeemer. We have the confidence that this was the crown- 
ing excellence of our lamented Chief Magistrate. In whose 
view does it not hallow his virtues, and endear his memory now 
that he is gone ? Who, without it, would himself, go down 
to the grave ? Our true life here, whatever stations we may 
occupy, is so to fill them and discharge the duties which Prov- 
idence assigns, in dependence on the divine Savior, that even 
death can not rob us of our hopes and acquisitions, but only 
transfer us to the world of their full and perpetual enjoyment. 

Next, this startling providence seems to utter a rebuke of our 
spirit and mode of rejoicing ; not of our rejoicing, which was 
as natural as breatliing where life is ; not of our mutual con- 
gratulation and hearty greeting, and glad thanksgiving, that 
victory was ours aud the sun of peace was beginning to gild the 



16 

eastern horizon, but of the spirit and mode of rejoicing. The 
spirit was too obviously that of self-elevation and pride ; as 
though success had been achieved solely by the might and 
prowess of the nation. In a moment and before exultation 
had ceased, the head and representative of that strength lay 
struggling in death. In the mode of rejoicing there were ex- 
cesses which deeply marred the general festivities. Bacchan- 
alian revels are no fit celebration of a great nation's victory 
over vice and crime. They show no just appreciation of the 
event, no right estimate of the cause which has signally tri- 
umphed, and can not promote fitness for the duties it may ye. 
demand. How suddenly on this occasion the intelligence 
breaks upon all who are participating in them ; he, who has 
been the most prominent in achieving the results over which 
you irrationally rejoice, has been stricken by the hand of an 
assassin, and the full extent of the conspiracy and the danger 
can not be known. With this intelligence a warning voice 
seems to be heard '-cease your revels ; break forever from their 
spell ; be men ; ever read}- for the call of duty, ever ready for 
the call of God. 

Xext, how clearly does this providence teach us to place our 
supreme confidence in God alone. It adds another, to all the 
previous admonitory lessons imparted by the leveling power 
of death, that Go 1 only is great. All human greatness sinks 
to insignificance before Him, and His sovereignty. He alone 
is enduring. All human power is transitory. "All flesh is as 
grass, and all the glory ot man as the flower of grass. The 
grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away." 4.t no 
time had confidence in President Lincoln been so implicit and 
general. Little danger was apprehended with him at the helm. 
When we prayed for the country, our first petition was, ''Spare 
O Lord our Chief Magistrate. Shield him from harm that he 
may guide us through the peril to safety and peace." At once 
and unexpectedly, his hand, palsied in death, drops the helm. 
The lesson of Scripture is enforced afresh, and most impres- 
sively. "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence 



11 

in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence 
in Princes." Ilowever worthy of confidence men may be, 
and however able, they are still mortal. No man, not the 
best, not the wisest, not the most able can be a sufficient de- 
pendence. No President, no Cabinet oSicers, no generals in 
the field, no armies, no navies, no resources can alone be a 
BuflScient dependence, for the salvation and welfare of the coun- 
try. Higher than they all, is the Lord Jehovah, and his 
favoring Providence is essential to success. We should learn 
man's proper place, and accordingly estimate his agency and 
its value.. That place is one of subordination to the Supreme 
Ruler. In every enterprise which has his approbation men are 
workers together under him. He will overrule for its advance- 
ment whatever may become of them. The cause is more than 
any man connected with it, lie may die, it may live. He 
may be destroyed by its enemies. It will survive their hostil- 
ity, and others be provided for every emergency. While the 
supreme trust of the country is in God, for its defence, we need 
not despair nor faint,because its ablest defenders fall. The sacri- 
fices required may sometimes seem too great and numerous, 
and v,'e may shrink from the sufferings they involve. But pa- 
tiently endured Ihey will not be in vain He in whom we 
trust, who appoints them for good, will bring us through them, 
and by means of them to complete victory and substantial peace 
and prosperity. 

Next, the event we deplore may be viewed as intended to 
furnish a clearer and fuller view of the spirit and fruits of sla- 
very. Tlieir manifestation as essential barbarism, had been 
more and more distinct from the inception of the Rebellion 
through its whole progress. The murder of wounded men, the 
desecration of the graves of the dead, the systematized expos- 
ure and starvation of prisoners of war, the massacre of captur- 
ed negro soldiers, the inhuman methods of warfare devised 
and carried out, were giving the people new and deeper im- 
pressions of the fearful malignity of the evil. But perhaps 
there was need of this last exhibition, this culmination of its 



18 

atrocity in assassination, and in the assassination of him who 
was highest, most trusted, and beloved; whom the people 
knew, not as a tyrant, but as one of the kindest and most gen- 
erous of men and merciful of Rulers, and at the very time 
seeking how with safety to the country he might extend am- 
nesty to the largest number of the vanquished foe ; perhaps 
this exhibition was needed to produce conviction sufficiently 
deep and extensive to accomplish the entire destruction of the 
cause of such terrible outrages upon humanity, and of the woes 
under which our country has been staggering. It is now more 
obvious, that unchecked, this gigantic evil would have plunged 
us finally into the condition of the South American States ; that 
in the ascendant it would have reduced the whole land to bar- 
barism. We nan not well forget the manner in which this subject 
was treated in the last inaugural address of President Lincoln. 
His words now seem to have been almost prophetic. The Al- 
mighty has his own purpose. "Woe unto the world because of 
offenses ! for it must needs be that offenses come ; but woe to 
that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose 
that American Slavery is one of those offenses which in the 
providence of God must needs come, but which having contin- 
ued through his appointed time, he now wills to remove, and 
that he gives to both North and South this terrible war as the 
woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern 
therein any departure from those divine attributes, which the 
believers in a living God always ascribe to him ? Fondly do 
we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war 
may soon pass away. Yet if God wills that it continue until 
all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty 
years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of 
blood drawn by the lash, shall be paid with another drawn by 
the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it 
must be said. "The judgments of the Lord are true and right- 
eous altogether." 

This, the last judgment is the heaviest of all ; and is the 
more adapted to produce serious consideration of the under- 



19 

lying cause, aud the necessity of its removal. It summons the 
people anew to appear in the presence of the Lord, to confess 
their sins and implore his mercy ; anew to resolve that every 
fetter shall be broken aiid all the oppressed go free ; and to 
seek and pursue the course which a just God can approve, that 
his judgments may be stayed, and his mercy revealed in our 
complete deliverance from the fearful woes consequent upon 
the impious offense of slavery. If such could be the results of 
this strange chastisement, there would be reason notwithstand- 
ing its severity to adopt the language of the Patriarch, " The 
Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away; Blessed be the name of 
the Lord." 

But again the tendency of this providence may be to re-in- 
state in the public mind a proper sense of justice. This had 
been losing its place and lawful power before the war. In some 
measure corrected, there was still danger that it would be too 
much restrained by dread of executing appropriate punishment 
or ill advised commiseration of the guilty. There is such real- 
ity as crime, as guilt, and deserved punishment, as the necessity 
and duty of its execution by human tribunals. Treason is 
crime. Plunging a great nation into intestine war, without 
just and sufficient cause is crime. To do it in the interest of 
Slavery, for its extension and perpetuity is greater crime, as 
the cause itself is criminal. What the exigencies of the future 
may demand in the way of clemency or of justice toward those 
who have covered themselves with the guilt of these crimes in 
the present war, it \vould be unbecoming to affirm. But that 
justice should be associated with mercy in the final adjudica- 
tion, we cannot doubt. To secure this, may bo one tendency 
of the event we deplore. Certainly nothing has occurred which 
brings out in clearer light the criminality of the Rebellion and 
of the spirit which prompted and has sustained it, than the as- 
sassination of the President, and the attempted assassination 
of others associated with him in the conduct of the government, 
Nothing has fixed it more deeply in the convictions of this peo- 
ple, nothing shown it more distinctly to the nations of the world. 



20 

and nothing has Stirred more deeply th^ pliHic sense of justice 
which demands the visitation of punishment upon the guilty. 

I do not refer now to the spirit of revenge which blind im- 
pulse felt when the startling intelligence first shocked every 
sensibility, but to that deeper, calmer, stronger sense of its 
guilt and of deserved penalty, abiding still, when impulse has 
ceased to act. The sense of justice may sometimes be satisfied 
with leaving its execution to the dispensations of a just God. 
But ho has established governments for the execution to some 
extent of the behests of His justice, that they may be a terror 
to evil doers, and a protection to those who do well. That our 
government may fulfill its mission in this respect, the people 
must have due appreciation of that mission, so as to prompt 
and sustain it.in all which is essential to justice or necessary to 
public order and security. The mysterious providence which 
has so deeply aflfected the public mind may have most impor- 
tant part, in securing this result in the present critical condi- 
tion of the country. It may eventuate in the more complete 
vindication of law and order ; in the more certain and suitable 
punisb.ment of the guilty; in the fuller guarantee of their rights 
to those who have been in bondage ; in the more thorough 
and settled pacification of the country ; the increased stability 
of the government, and its augmented security and usefulness, 
glory and power hereafter. 

Then again the result may be to show more distinctly and 
fully the value of the Institutions which God has given us ; to 
produce a higher estimate and better support and improve- 
ment of them at home, and greater respect and more benign 
influence abroad. The assassination of him who fills the Pres- 
idential chair does not rob the nation of a Chief Magistrate. — 
Such provision is made that he never dies. The vacancy is 
immediately filled, not by a minor or successful conspirator 
against established order, but by one designated and chosen 
under the same constitution which elevated his Predecesscr to 
power, and one familiar -with the principles and methods of 
administration, and around whom the confidence and support 



21 

of the people are at once and naturally gathered. Violent 
changes are precluded. Revolution does not follow. Affairs 
move on, almost, as though no interruption had occurred. — 
Conspirators are disappointed. A price is put on their 
heads. The avenger is on their path, and will find them out, 
and execute the doom of their dreadful guilt. The people are 
horror struck, overwhelmed with grief, humbled ; and more 
deeply sensible than ever before of the weighty responsibilities 
which rest upon them are rallied anew to the maintenance of 
the cause which has been tasking their energies and demand- 
ing great sacrifices of treasure and of more precious life. More 
and more, and all that may be needed is ready to be laid on the 
altar of the country. The spirit of party is hushed by the 
dread event. Opposition hides its head. The people were 
never more united. One sentiment prevails. Sorrow and 
veneration for the dead. Renewed devotion to the country 
and the government, with solemn purpose that its authority 
shall be vindicated and made triumphant over all its foes. — 
Confidence returns, and rests in settled assurance of the benign 
result. "When success has crowned our arms and measures, 
with a general peace and a restored union without the virus of 
slavery to weaken it, how obviously will it appear that our 
Institutions have stood the severest tests, and are destined to 
be permanent ; a permanent blessing to the millions under 
their protection, and a clearer light and nobler example to the 
nations of the earth. Then too may it appear more distinctly 
than now, that this heaviest cloud which has overshadowed us, 
was freighted with the richest blessings. The martyr death 
of Abraham Lincoln may have purchased good for his country, 
great, as his patriot life conferred ; and the Supreme Lord will 
be recognized as blessed, both when He gave and when He 
took away. 

Finally, the effect of the wb.ole, of the dispensation and of 
the truths which it suggests, should be, our renewed conse- 
cration, in humble reliance upon God who is our refuge, to the 
country and cause for which our venerated President was made 



22 

a sacrifice. Confidence and support should be at once trans- 
ferred to his^successor. Prajer should continually ascend, that 
he may be as fully endowed for the ofiice and its grave respon- 
sibilities now and henceforth, as his distinguished Predecessor 
was, for the times in which its high duties were devolved upon 
him. He too is the people's choice and our President by the 
constitution, and the providence ofGod. Sustained by the peo- 
ple, and Providence whose favor their supplications invoke, An- 
drew Johnson's administration may be as eminently successful 
as Abraham Lincoln's and finish the great work left to its 
charge with like success and like imperishable honor. 

No more fitting words can be employed in this connection 
than those used by our deceased President at the consecration 
of the Gettysburg Cemetery. "• Fourscore and seven years ago 
our Fathers brought forth npon tliis continent a new Nation, 
conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all 
men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil 
war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived 
and dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battle 
field of that war. "We are met to dedicate a portion of it as 
the final resting-place of those who here gave their lives, that 
that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that 
we should do this. But in a larger sense, we can not dedicate. 
We can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The 
brave men living and dead, who struggled here have conse- 
crated it, far above our power to add or detract. The world 
wiU little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can 
never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, to be 
dedicated here to the unfinished work that they have thus far 
so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to 
the great task remaining before us ; that from these honored 
dead, we take increased devotion to that cause for which they 
here gave the last full measure of devotion ; that we here re- 
solve that the dead shall not have died in vain ; that the na- 
tion shall, under God have a new birth of freedom ; and that 



as 

Governments of the people, by the people and for the people 
shall not perish from the earth." 

To this cause, Abraham Lincoln, has now given, in accord- 
ance with the consecration there made, a consecration hallowed 
by associated consecration to the God of all destinies, "the 
last full measure of devotion." To-day we, and the people 
throughout the land, are summoned to like consecration, over 
his remains, and in the midst of most aflecting and general 
exhibitions of the greatness of the sacrifice involved in his 
death. Could the sentiments so nobly uttered by him, pen- 
etrate and fill the hearts of the entire country, and a new de- 
dication, by unanimous consent, be made to the unity and 
perpetuity of the nation ; the dead will not have died in vain; 
the unfinished work which President Lincoln has left will be 
well accomplished ; the great task remaining to be done, will 
be done ; the nation will live, and its future be nobler and 
better than its past. 

Certainly will this result, it there should bo associated with 
this consecration to the country such recognition of the Supreme 
Lord over all, as His word and providential government re- 
([uire. The nation humbled. Ho will exalt in due time. 
From their prayers He will not turn away. TTieir praises, He 
will accept. Blessing Him when He gives and when He takes 
away, we shall be blessed by Him. " Happy is that people 
that is in such a case ; yea happy is that people, whose God 
is the Lord." 



I_B S '!2 



